BY BETH KAISERMAN

While it was cold and slushy outside, movie clips, trivia and delightful Italian sweets warmed the audience of Francine Segan’s Food in Film lecture last week at 92nd St. Y.

John Belushi in Animal House - courtesy of Flickr

Segan told some weird and interesting tidbits – like Charlie Chaplin, a diabetic, once went into shock after eating a shoe made of licorice for one of his films.

Food can be used in films to underscore a point, highlight a character’s personality, or set the mood for a time period, Segan said. Who doesn’t fall a little in love with Bluto (John Belushi) as he gorges through the dining hall line in Animal House?

Segan showed a couple of the most disgusting food scenes, such as Rocky chugging raw eggs to boost his protein intake and the enormously obese Mr. Creosote causing a chain reaction of vomiting after exploding at a French restaurant in Monty Python’s The Meaning of Life.

I was most interested in Segan’s discussion of movies that used cookbooks to copy details for dining scenes, such as Brian Helgeland’s A Knight’s Tale and Martin Scorcese’s The Age of Innocence. These moviemakers researched period cookbooks, and turned exact pictures from the books into historically accurate movie magic.

In some cities where Segan gives this lecture, audiences haven’t seen any of the movies she discusses, she said. But last night, most of the trivia answers were shouted out before Segan even finished the question.

The lecture was lighthearted and fun – a treat for a lover of food, film, or both. And I now have a list of a few foodie films I have to see – in perfect timing for a snow day. I think I’ll start with Kramer vs. Kramer, which uses the main character’s skill at cooking breakfast to move the narrative, and Eat Drink Man Woman, the critically acclaimed 1994 film about a chef living with his daughters in Taipei, Taiwan. I also want to see Ratatouille again and maybe even take a shot at making the title dish.

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